Dealer Richard Feigen told reporter Kelly Crow of the Wall Street Journal after the auction that too many of the works were bought in recent years by Taubman — who was the primary owner of Sotheby’s before going to jail for price-fixing in 2002 — and thus were not particularly fresh to collectors. “He bought auction leavings, and the market knew it,” Feigen told the Journal.

Despite the disappointing results, the fact remains that another important grouping of works has come to market. Enjoy these works for their intrinsic value as Suzanne previewed and selected her favorites from this auction here.

This piece was one of the highlights of the auction, and one of the few that performed well. The piece exchanged hands 6 times before Taubman acquired, notably by Rudolf Zwirner, and by Kasmin Limited in April 1969. It was acquired by A. Alfred Taubman in September 1982.